Seven Texts on Evangelism

Tim Challies posted this helpful piece, Seven Texts on Evangelism. Following are the seven texts:

1. There is work to be done
Matthew 9:37-38
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

2. Jesus has commanded you to do it
Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

3. Success is guaranteed
John 10:16
And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

4. Jesus is the only salvation
John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

5. You were given the Holy Spirit for this purpose
Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

6. People won’t be saved without hearing
Romans 10:11-15
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

7. Evangelism is necessary for your own growth in Christ
Philemon 6
And I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.

HT: Scott Brown in this post.

Baptism Testimony

I have been going through some of my old stuff, and found my baptism testimony. I thought I'd share it here.

I cam to Christ in early April this year (2006). I was reading the newspaper and was asked to participate in a survey on religious life on campus. I nearly sent them away - after all, it was my lunch break, and I wanted to read my paper. But something stopped me. I know now that that something was God. We,, I completed the survey and allowed my name and email address to be recorded. God was truly at work in my life that day. One of the two girls went to primary school with me, and clearly remembered both me and my sister (who was in the same grade as her). Well, Sonali invited me to go to church with her. I did, and soon realised the truth about God's love and the death of His Son, Jesus, so that we could be in a relationship with God.

Like the Gentiles in Acts, I was baptised in the Holy Spirit before I was water batized. My Holy Spirit baptism happened at the Alpha campt. I can honestly say that this was the most amazing experience of my life - that first feeling of the amazing, utterly incomprehenisble love that God has for me, and for all of us.

I only decided to get baptised by water last night - and indeed, if I had been asked on Sunday I would have said that I wasn't ready yet. To me baptism is about turning away from our sins, having them washed from us, in a symbolic union of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There were some sins I just didn't think that I could turn away from, and I felt that it would be hypocritical to be baptised and then go right back to my old sins, and to intend that right through the baptism.

The sin that I was think of is through God's work, no longer a part of my life. It has long been a matter for prayer, and while it didn't work out the way I wanted it to, I can clearly see God's hand in it, and I know that it will work out for the best. Afteer all, Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."

I do not expect my life now I have been water baptised to be perfect, or for me to live a life free from sin. The only person without sin is Jesus. But I have made the decision to turn away from sin, and to me that makes a huge difference.

Bu being baptized I proclaim to all of you that I believe in Jesus Christ and wish to follow Him all the days of my life, however long or short they may be. I show myself willing to follow His example, and to do as He commanded us. I know I will fall short of the glory of our Saviour, but by living under His wing I know that I can meet all the challenges of my life with the strength that He gives me, and not just my own strength.

Thank you all for being a part of this wonderful ceremony.

Points from Praying for the Nations - Iran

I want to thank those who came to the first praying for the nations night! Our next one is on the 19th of March. I have included details of the prayer points so that those who were unable to attend can uphold this country in prayer

Iran is a predominantly Muslim nation. Islam makes up between 98-99% of the population. The government is theocratic, and is rather totalitarian.

Prayer Points
1. There is a lot of discrimination against the Armenian and Chaldeans, the two main ethnically Christian groups, with the result that many leave the country. Pray that these Armenians will find ways to provide for their families whilst remaining in Iran as a witness. These people are treated as second class citizens, unable to fully participate in the activities of their country. However, they are not likely to be killed by the government for Christian activity, as they are considered ethnically Christian.
2. Muslim Background Believers – they face a lot of persecution, from family and from the government. Adult males can be sentenced to death for apostasy (i.e. conversion from Islam). Pray for comfort and strength in difficult times, and for a strength of witness
3. Pray for three specific prisoners
a. Ps Youcef Nadarkhani – under death sentence. I have previously sent out an email about his situation
b. Ps Behnam Irani – serving a 5 year sentence, is in poor health, and guards have been ordered to beat him regularly
c. Ps Mehdi Foroutan – sentenced to 1 year in prison & has been transferred to an area catering mainly recovering drug addicts. Pray he is able to witness powerfully to those he come into contact with
4. Many Muslim Background Believers & those who work with them who are released from prison are martyred by extremist groups. Please pray for the families and congregations of:
a. Rev Haik Hovsepian Mehr (an Armenian, who testified in Ps Mehdi Dibaj’s trial for apostasy)
b. Ps Mehdi Dibaj (who was imprisoned for apostasy, released, and was later martyed)
5. Pray that all the persecution bear much fruit for Christ. That the blood of the martyrs would indeed be the seed of the Iranian church
6. For the witness of media – radio, TV, internet
7. For the translation of the Scriptures into minority languages

Other Ways You can Help
• Sign the petition for Youcef Nadarkhani
• Write to the 3 prisoners (details available through Voice of the Martyrs)
• Petition our government (and / or the government of your home country) to take action to force Iran to uphold human rights
• Buy a Voice of the Martyrs Farsi-English Testament ($22)

Beautiful

Manhood from Hazardous Journeys on Vimeo.

All the videos in this set are beautiful (very visually stunning, and have a wonderful messege) but this one is stunning.

It is the third, so watch all three!

Hudson Taylor

It does not matter, really, how great the pressure is; it only matters WHERE THE PRESSURE LIES. See that it never comes BETWEEN you and the Lord – then, the greater the pressure, the more it presses you to His breast.”
From Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret

Philippians 3

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. (verse 12)

No Christian will be perfect this side of heaven. We are all inherently sinful, sinning regularly through both omission and commission. Paul, one of the most effective Christians of all time, canonised as a saint in the Roman Catholic church and writer of much of the New Testament, fully admits to this. He knows that he is far from perfection.

Yet he still presses on towards greater godliness. He does this not in spite of the grace that God has shown him through Christ, but rather BECAUSE of it.

This is the reaction that we need to have. We should be eternally grateful (and grateful in the here-and-now) for the grace of God through Christ, and this gratefulness should be manifesting itself through a changed life, through a greater seeking after godliness.

Memorial Box Monday

Last year, I hurt my back at work. I work in childcare, so it’s a fairly common thing to happen. And while it is mostly better, sometimes it can get really sore.

Well, Monday I woke up and my back was really sore. As in, it hurts to BREATHE sore. Tuesday came, and my back was still sore. I’m trying to pray more specifically, so I prayed that night that I would wake up the next morning and my back would be better – and not just better, but so completely fine that I wouldn’t even realise that it was better until later.

I woke up, and didn’t even notice that my back was fine, until someone else at work complained about their back! That was around lunchtime, so over 5 hours after waking before I even noticed! That’s how much better my back was!

Praise God!

Philippians 1

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment (verse 9).

As Christians, we are to love. It is the sign that we are Christians – His new commandment (John 13:34). And our love is to grow from day to day. It will not stay static, just as we will not stay static, but will grow as we grow in Christ. We will go from loving those who are loveable, to loving those who are difficult, to eventually loving those who are unlovable by the world’s standards.

But it is not enough that our love increase. We need to be tempering our love with knowledge and discernment. Love in order to be effective needs to know the beloved’s needs, and it needs to be able to discern these real needs from the beloved’s wants and desires. Then we need to know the way we can best meet the needs of the beloved. Sometimes, this means ‘tough love’, not giving the beloved what they want if it is bad for them, and standing firm in this.

It is the love that God in Christ has for us.

And praise be to God, we get to – no, we are COMMANDED to – reflect a small measure of His love to the world around us.

If We Are The Body

But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
There is a way

Jesus payed much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the body of Christ

Jesus is the way

From the song If We Are the Body by Casting Crowns

Ephesians 6

In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one (verse 16)

We are told here to always react with faith, no matter what the circumstances are. That does not just mean in good circumstances – all means all! It is when we are able to look at our ‘bad’ circumstances – circumstances that are difficult for us, even impossible seeming – when we can look at these circumstances and know that God is for us, it is THEN that our faith grows.

I am not in an easy circumstance right now. Someone in my church has decided that I’m broken and need ‘fixing’ and is chancing me around to tell me that that she ‘understands’ and can ‘fix’ my problems. It’s incredibly frustrating, especially as in all her ‘understanding’ she hasn’t actually listened to a word I’ve said at any point. It’s hard to see how God is going to us this for god- for my good, for her good, or the good of the church – but ultimately He will. Faith knows it, and faith lives by it, even when we cannot see it.